Stock Market Dragons
by Imperio-youloveme
Summary: "It's kind of like Twilight and Harry Potter had intercourse, got pregnant, and then had my book." "I'd rather stick to the Business Journal." And thus they re-met.


_**Half Of My Heart**_

"_Half of my heart takes time…"-John Mayer_

Sasuke Uchiha has never been very eloquent with words. In fact, some may even say that he was emotionally constipated. He would, of course, defend himself with a rather nasty glare, and a few unprintable choice words.

Sasuke Uchiha had been born… alone. His father was always on business trips and his mother on "vacations" (although, if he stopped kidding himself for a few minutes, he could admit to himself that after said "vacations" mother came home with a tighter face, or a more refined nose). He had an older brother, Itachi, but he was always doing some kind of extra curricular activity, or hanging out with 'Akatsuki', the self-proclaimed gangsters of the middle school.

Sasuke Uchiha had been raised by countless of nannies, and butlers and the occasional imaginary friend he would make. Looking back, Sasuke had to admit it was rather pathetic stealing Ramen Boy, Naruto's imaginary friend, in pre-school. But, if he had to defend himself, Sasuke could say that he was never imaginative enough to conjure up his own friends.

Sasuke Uchiha would never admit it, but he truly liked Naruto's company. The idiot was Sasuke's only friend, and although Naruto could sometimes be considered a pain in the rear, Sasuke knew he'd be all alone without the moron.

Sasuke Uchiha was many things, - egoistical, rude, a jerk, and had been known to have slightly whorish tendencies- but he was never the kind of man who could be caught day dreaming about anyone, much less a girl. And it wasn't just _any_ girl. It had to be the loud, and nice, and funny, and not at all whorish Annika Hatake.

Annika Hatake had been one of the few girls, that during his high school years, had not been after him. Not that he minded at the time. He had been too preoccupied with dodging the rest of the female population at Konoha High.

Now, as he stared out the window of his brand new office located on the 23rd floor of the Uchiha Corp. building, he couldn't help but wonder how, not having seen Annika since graduation, he could be in such a (as Shikamaru-the lazy human resources guy on the 15th floor-would put it) troublesome situation.

The day prior, Sasuke had been browsing through his old high school yearbook, and came to find her picture. She had even signed his yearbook (although it was Naruto who had asked her for Sasuke). Sasuke had sat in his living room for hours, contemplating on what had happened to her. He vaguely remembered her once saying in homeroom Freshmen year that she would one day be known. He had snorted at that. He hadn't seen her name anywhere, and he doubted he would ever.

He had seen her, alright, but not on the way he thought he would. Her name was plastered on a small book store located in front of his (it felt so good to say that) building. The diminutive store had been one of the only small businesses that had refused to be sold to Hyuuga Corp., who had wanted to upstage Uchiha Corp. and had proclaimed it would build an even taller and prouder building to the Uchiha one across the street. The small bookstore (which was, consequently, named 'The Small Bookstore') had held it's ground, and Hyuuga Corp. now had a home two blocks over from Uchiha Corp.

Sasuke Uchiha had walked across the street that morning to get his coffee from the Starbucks next to The Small Bookstore, as he never trusted his assistant with his coffee, when he was forced to do a double take. Annika Hatake's name was on a bright orange poster on one of the two small windows on the bookstore. The poster announced Annika's debut book.

That, Sasuke supposed, wasn't exactly being known, but it had to do.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A female's voice said from next to him. Sasuke turned towards the voice, and, if he weren't Sasuke Uchiha, he would've gasped. The female who had spoken was Annika Hatake. She looked the same he concluded, after some scrutiny. Tall, raven haired, same dull grey eyes, and that small scar on her right temple, cutting through her eyebrow slightly. "That's my name there, you know? Took me a long time to write that baby, but I'm proud of it."

Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow at her, but said nothing otherwise.

"You look familiar. Have we met before?" He should've seen it coming. Only Annika Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki would be able to strike up conversation with somebody they didn't know.

"Sasuke Uchiha." He said in a monotone, and watched as her face went from slightly puzzled to recognition in a space of a second.

"I know you! We went to high school together. I remember we had homeroom together in Freshmen year with Iruka-sensei. How are you?"

"Fine." He nodded curtly.

"Awesome. So…are you interested in my book? It just came out yesterday. It's fiction, so I don't know if you like fiction much, but it involves non-fiction too. It's kind of like Twilight and Harry Potter had intercourse, got pregnant, and then had my book."

He didn't know whether to laugh or scowl. "I'd rather stick to the Business Journal."

"Ah. I tried reading it once, but it bored me after about ten milliseconds. It didn't have any dragons in it, unless you count those killing stock market numbers." Annika laughed and Sasuke stared. "So…what are you doing here?"

"I was getting coffee." Sasuke offered, and Annika sighed.

"I don't suppose you are lying to me and are actually going to go buy my book, are you?"

Sasuke shook his head no, and Annika sighed again. "Well, I'll let you go to your coffee then. I'll see you later…or something."

Annika walked into the store and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

And now Sasuke couldn't help thinking about the girl. There was nothing special about her. Hell, he had dated better looking women! Yes, he had to say, she had always been smart, and had always been the one involved in the debate team instead of in the cheerleading squad. She had always been, at least back in high school, the girl who was sat underneath a Sakura tree every lunch, and the girl who was really easy to hold a conversation with, but repelled people just as easily. She was the girl who had danced during biology class in 10th grade when the teacher had announced they would be watching Shark Week as part of their studies on aquatic animals.

Annika Hatake was also the girl who held no feelings towards him. For that, he contemplated later on when he was signing some meaningless papers, he had held some sort of respect for her.

He managed to get her out of his mind for a week, until he had another encounter with her. He, once again, was making his way towards Starbucks to get his daily 2:30 in the afternoon coffee, when he saw her standing in front of the book store again.

"Hey!" She exclaimed when she saw him heading her way. "Told you I would be seeing you again!"

Sasuke had been rude before in his life, so it would've only been natural for him to completely pass by her, ignoring her. He couldn't bring himself to do that to her when she had practically screamed her greeting.

"Hello." He nodded curtly (something he _always_ did).

"So…are you getting your coffee again?" She asked curiously, glancing back at her poster and then at him.

Sasuke nodded. "Cool. I'm deciding whether I want to buy this bookstore or not."

Sasuke thought that may be she might be lying, but told himself that Annika was never the kind of person that lied (back in high school, people had learnt not to ask for her opinion on things that might potentially make them out as 'fat', or too 'orangey looking'). "The owner, Mr. Fujioka, is retiring and he's thinking about selling. But he wants somebody who has a passion for books so that The Small Bookstore doesn't end up in the hands of some kind of corporate crazy person. So he offered it to me at a fairly good price."

Again, Sasuke nodded. "I want to buy it, you know? But I don't have that kind of money, and I'm a writer, so I'm poor." Annika laughed.

"Why don't you ask for a loan?" Sasuke asked and Annika smiled.

"That was my first thought, but then I remembered I still have a student loan to pay off. At this rate, that loan will not be paid off until I'm old and wrinkly."

"And your father?"

"He couldn't afford to take me through college on a piano teacher salary, what makes you think he can afford to buy me a bookstore?" Annika asked mildly.

Sasuke shrugged. "Oh well. I think I'll have to pass. One day, I'll buy it, I think, and then I can just read books for free." Annika smiled and looked at Sasuke. "So, I never got to ask you what you do for a living."

"I work at Uchiha Corp." Sasuke answered, a little appalled that the girl hadn't put two and two together when she had been standing in front of his building continuously for who knows how long.

"That's right down the street! Wait, what was your last name again?"

"Uchiha."

"Ah. So that must be your father's company…?"

"Yes. I've taken over this one, while he has retired and left the headquarters in England for my brother." Sasuke answered.

"That's really cool. You get to be your own boss. When I started writing, I always thought I wouldn't have anyone to boss me around, but I have the world's most annoying publicist. You would think I would have a say on what I want to do with my book, but _no_." Annika rolled her eyes skyward with an exasperated huff in tow.

"Ah." Sasuke acknowledged and then gave a quick pointed look towards the coffee haven he visited every day.

"You probably should get going." Annika chuckled a little. "I'll see you later, then."

"Sure." Sasuke replied and walked away.

It had become a weekly affair between Sasuke Uchiha and Annika Hatake. They would always make small conversations on Thursday when Annika would swing by The Small Bookstore to say hi to Mr. Fujioka and browse for any interesting books, and when Sasuke would go to Starbucks for his mid-day coffee.

He had grown to like the girl. She was always entertaining (if not annoying), and never minded that he didn't bring too much into the conversation. Sasuke had enjoyed the girl so much that he had actually started inviting her to join him for coffee. Annika, being true to herself, never let him pay her coffee, and he found that it was alright. As long as she talked about nonsense to distract him enough about the ridiculous amount of paperwork he had to go back to after his coffee break, he wasn't opposed to her rules.

Sasuke Uchiha, the guy who would only read the Business Journal, and nothing else at all, actually bought Annika Hatake's book. Three pages into the thick orange book and he came to discover that it was, in fact, something that seemed to be the spawn of Twilight and Harry Potter (not that he would ever admit he knew what Harry Potter was, much less Twilight).

Annika, in return, had started to give the Business Journal a second try. Sasuke had been amused when she had walked into Starbucks on a rainy Thursday and announced that Hyuuga Corp. was down the stocks by three points, and that she was ashamed to say that she knew that because she had read something that was non-fiction.

Then it wasn't just Thursdays that they met. It was also Mondays and Saturdays as well, and then it turned into a whole week kind of thing. Sasuke didn't mind, and Annika had said that she had way to much free time of her own, so Sasuke would have to do (he had snorted in a very non-Uchiha fashion at the look of amused pain Annika had used as she had said that).

And then it wasn't just at Starbucks that they met. They would meet on Sundays when Sasuke had nothing to do and Annika had book club meetings that she had stopped attending when the old ladies had 'dissed' her book in a rather 'unladylike manner, and with words that would make even a sailor embarrassed' (or at least that's how Annika put it.). They would meet at a small park in the middle of the bustling city and would walk, and occasionally buy ice cream.

It got to a point where Sasuke and Annika almost saw their friendship as a more than platonic relationship. Sasuke had even started picking her up after work at a quaint chocolate store she had started working at when her book seemed to be going nowhere, and the bills started pilling up.

Things then _really_ moved forward. Sasuke had unconsciously pecked her lips when he had picked her up from work one day. Annika, in true Annika fashion, had stared wide eyes at him, and then laughed at the 'silliness'-as she put it-of it all. Then Annika had kissed him, and they had started being 'us' instead of 'you' and 'me'.

The day came when Sasuke realized something. At the stage where Annika was almost, practically, living in his house, and she had told him she loved him-not expecting him to say it back-Sasuke found himself hating himself. Because, it was at that stage, that he saw that he had this girl who seemed to love him with everything she had, and he couldn't bring himself to say the dreaded "L' word when he knew deep down he loved her.

Sasuke figured it had to do with the fact that he was screwed up. He was raised by complete strangers because his parents were always somewhere else. His brother had turned out gay (not that that had anything to do with loving Annika, but he had to get that off of his chest)! He had stolen imaginary friends, for Pete's sake! If that wasn't enough to tell himself he was really screwed up, he couldn't figure out what could. Sasuke had always figured that he would be alone, and yet he found himself the most alone, and missing Annika when she would sleep at her apartment for the night. Or when he was at work and he'd think of dragons when he would look down at the latest issue of the Business Journal.

Sasuke Uchiha told Annika Hatake just that. That he was selfish and he could probably be better. That he was crazy and-

"And I stole imaginary friends when I was in pre-school! If that doesn't tell you how inadequate I am to love you like you want me to, then I should probably get you to my brother. I'm sure he can tell you all about how terrible I am!"

Annika had never seen Sasuke look so lost, and almost, dare she say it, _crazy_.

She laughed. And hugged him. And told him to shut up because she was like a leech that he would never be able to separate from.

Later that night, when both laid in in Sasuke's living room watching old re-runs of The Office (Annika's absolute favorite show in the whole wide world, she affirmed Sasuke) with a bowl of stale chips on the floor, Sasuke said something along the lines of what he had wanted to say for so long-

"I couldn't stop loving you…even if I wanted to." It was such and un-Sasuke thing to say that Annika had stared dumbly at him for a few minutes, not even laughing when Michael Scott said his catch phrase ("that's what she said"). Sasuke huffed in annoyance, and Annika awoke from her stupor to smile at him.

"Me neither." She said.


End file.
